Au Pairs
Helping Young Children Learn Language
Being an au pair is an important role in a child’s life. When you are caring for young children up to 45 hours per week, there are lots of opportunities to help them learn language. Many host parents are eager for their children to be exposed to more than just English. If this is true of Read More
Hints for Success – Handling Expenses
Host parents often ask for suggestions on how best to handle common expenses that occur as au pairs are caring for the children. Miscellaneous Expenses There are different ways to handle the little day-to-day expenses that come up. Things like when an au pair takes the kids out for ice cream or picks up a gallon Read More
Snow Days are Here!
9 Winter Driving Tips to Stay Safe in the Ice & Snow
The best advice for driving in bad winter weather is not to drive at all, if you can avoid it. Don’t go out until the snow plows and sanding trucks have had a chance to do their work, and allow yourself extra time to reach your destination. If you must drive in snowy conditions, make Read More
Avoiding Homesickness in the Holiday Season
Homesickness can be a problem during the holidays, even if it hasn’t been at any other time of the year. Au pairs often miss their friends and family, familiar places, and their own traditions and customs. The holiday activities in the United States seem, and may actually be, different just at a time when an Read More
Winter Sports & Sports Insurance
Trying out winter sports like ice skating, skiing, and snowboarding can be very exciting, especially if this is your first time experiencing winter weather. However, you should also know the risks and be prepared. Is it risky to do winter sports without sports insurance? Yes. If you have to pay your own hospital bills for a broken Read More
Clothing & Accessories to Keep You Warm in the Winter
I did a blog post in October called Preparing for Cold Weather, with some general tips on layering and the kind of things you can get to stay warm. I encourage you to check that out and then come back here for specific suggestions for clothing items. Even though I have lived in Read More
Making Thanksgiving Memories Together
Thanksgiving is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year in the United States. It started as a harvest festival and has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789. The most important part of Thanksgiving for American families is to spend family time together. “My favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. Read More
Surviving & Thriving in the Holiday Season
The fall/winter holiday season is most often a time of joy and excitement. However, it can also be a time of stress and disappointment for both host families and au pairs. Here are some ideas and insights that will hopefully help you avoid stress and disappointment and share more of the joy and excitement! Holiday Read More
Preparing for Cold Weather
We’re in that time of year when Maryland temperatures start dipping a little lower. It can be 70°F (21°C) one day and 40°F (4°C) the next. But, that doesn’t mean you need to hide indoors. There are lots of ways to stay warm and enjoy the outdoors through fall and winter. There is a Scandinavian Read More
Where to Get Your Flu Shot
Many au pairs and host families are looking for places to get flu shots this time of year. Your au pair medical insurance does NOT cover preventive care like vaccines. But there are lots of places to get flu shots for free or a small fee. If a host family is urging their au Read More
Avoid Falling Victim to Scammers
There are always people out there who are looking for ways to trick people out of their money and personal information. Below I will explain some scams and how to protect yourself. SCAM #1 – Calls asking for your PIN, password, personal information, or payment. Your bank will not call you and ask you Read More
What are the Rules for Holidays?
There are no regulations requiring host families to give au pairs any specific holidays off. In the spirit of the au pair program, many host families will give their au pair the day off on major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, July 4th). Most au pairs look forward to sharing holidays like Thanksgiving Read More
Hints for Success – Homesickness/Culture Shock
Almost everyone experiences culture shock and homesickness when they come to a completely new environment. Everything is different: the language, the food, and the people. Here are my Top 5 Tips for Dealing with Homesickness 1. Make friends – Don’t wait for other au pairs to reach out to you, reach out to them. There are Read More
Stopping for School Buses
With schools in session and many new au pairs who have recently arrived, I wanted to remind everyone about what to do in different situations with school buses. If you have questions, please ask me or your host parents. The rules regarding stopping for school buses are: It is against the law to Read More